Potter Twins
by Angelic Toaster
Summary: Buffy and Harry Potter are no ordinary twins. Even before they were born, a simple prophecy had their lives changed forever. And still more when one of them is the Chosen One, life for the two will never be simple.
1. The Twins Who Lived

**For my story, there is a Harry Potter, and the prophecy was about him and his twin sister and George are a year younger. Oh, and Neville Longbottom has a twin sister Nina. I don't own HP, that belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling.**

In the middle of the night on one end of Privet Drive, a man in a long cloak with long, silver hair and beard and eyes that twinkle and pierce you appears out of no where with a 'Pop!' He takes from a pocket in his cloak what looks to be a lighter and opens it up. With a click of the lighter, the streetlamp nearest him goes out, its light flying into the little silver lighter. The man repeats the process until the entire street is only lit by the moon and stars.

Tucking away the silver lighter, the man walks down the street until he stands before Number Four, an ordinary house at best. On the garden wall sits a tabby cat with the oddest circles around its eyes. This tabby watches closely as the old man comes and sits next to it, looking out to the street. "Hello Minerva," says the old man.

In response, the cat morphs into an older woman with glasses and green robes. "How did you know it was me?"

He chuckles lightly. "I have never seen a cat sit quite so still as you."

Minerva brushes this off and instead of responding says, "So are the rumors true, then?"

"That depends on what rumors you are speaking of," he says this lightly but is tone is completely serious.

"That He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tried and failed to kill the girl and was destroyed by trying, and that the girl and the boy now are devoid of any family but these people? That He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gone?"

The old man sighs lightly. "Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing its self. I fear, Minerva, that Voldemort may not be gone forever. But for now, this much is true."

Minerva nods. "Dumbledore, are you sure you want to leave them with these people? They are the worst kind of Muggles!"

"Alas, they are the only family the two have left."

Minerva won't take this answer, "So someone else can take them in! I'm sure there are hundreds of wizards all around the world willing to take these two children in! They're famous!"

Dumbledore shakes his head sadly. "I would take them in myself if it would be best. No, these children need to grow away from all of this fame, it must not corrupt them."

So McGonagle lets the subject drop, checking her watch, only to look right back up at Dumbledore. "He's late. Are you sure you think it safe to leave such an important job to Hagrid?"

Dumbledore smiles. "Now, Minerva, I would trust Hagrid with my life."

McGonagle looks away, muttering, "But is it wise to do so?" She is ignored. Moments later, a thundering noise can be heard. The pair look up at the flying motorcycle in the sky as it comes closer and closer, touching down and skidding to a halt mere feet away from them. From off of the motorcycle steps a giant man, two men tall and three wide with hands like waist bin lids. In his hands are two bundles curled up as one, two babies curled up together, sleeping, clinging to each other tightly. Shutting off his motorcycle, Hagrid speaks in a booming voice, "Fell asleep when we was flyin' over Bristol, these two did. Curled right up to each other the whole time."

"You're late," spats out McGonagle. Dumbledore speaks before Hagrid can reply,

"Thank you, Hagrid. I shall take them from here." Gently, Dumbledore takes the two babies from Hagrid's hands and walks to the door with them. McGonagle and Hagrid watch, Hagrid with tears in his eyes, as the old man sets the two down in a basket on the porch, tucking a letter signed in emerald ink in the folds of their blankets. "Buffy and Harry Potter will grow away from the pressure of our world. It is better that way."

**HEYY! I hope you liked the first chapter! Let me know if you did in a REVIEW please! Reviews are chocolate cakes with cherries and other goodies! They inspire me to write more and more quickly!**


	2. Vanishing Glass and The Calling

**Heyy! I don't own anything! Hope you like it!**

"UP! GET UP! You two've got to make everything perfect for the big day! UP!" comes the shrill voice of Buffy and Harry's Aunt Petunia as she bangs hard on the door to the cupboard under the stairs. Both Harry and Buffy shoot up to a sitting position in the bed they're forced to share in the tiny room. Harry rubs at his eyes groggily as Buffy yawns, stretching.

"You know, I think she's the most effective alarm clock ever. What'd'ya think, Harry?" Buffy and Harry share a grin at her joke, Harry nodding. The two quickly dress, Harry in one of Dudley's old shirts and one of his pants and Buffy in one of Dudley's old shirts with a little bit of needlework to make it a dress. Harry and Buffy pull brushes through their hair, Harry's raven mess only getting messier and Buffy's long blond locks smoothing down considerably. They both glance at each other simultaneously with their emerald green eyes, Harry reaching out and smoothing down a stray lock of Buffy's and Buffy quickly re-arranging Harry's hair to a slightly more calm mess. Then they step out of the cupboard, walking to the kitchen to see Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon sitting at the table. Their Uncle Vernon is a very large man with four chins and a high temper with the two of them, never to be crossed or asked questions. Harry abides by these rules, but Buffy will break both whenever she's sick of something about the house-almost every day. Right now, with his face in the paper, they both decide to just leave him.

"You'll be making pancakes and bacon and eggs for Duddykin's special day, on to it!" Aunt Petunia sets the twins to work in the kitchens. She's a bony woman with a square jaw and sharp rules about the house-it always must be spotless. Buffy and Harry set to making breakfast, just as they do every morning. But today is different. Which is obvious, Buffy thinks, that the day is 'special,' by the table stacked high with present after present. Buffy is a small girl, even for her age (12), with a very cute face, lips constantly forming a small pout that has gotten her out of trouble many times at school. She's also probably one of the bravest and most outgoing people you could meet, if you actually pay attention to her. Most people don't. Unconsciously, her hand rubs the lightning-bolt-shaped scare on her collarbone, barely hidden by her 'dress'.

At the same time, Harry rubs his lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead, covered by his wild hair. He's also scrawny, but larger than Buffy by a bit. And he is also very brave, but not as outgoing and proud as Buffy. He's quiet, proffering the shadows, trying (and failing) to stay out of trouble.

And they love each other. The two twins count on each other for everything, they finish each other's sentences, they're by each other's side twenty-four seven, and they know everything about each other. Sometimes, though they don't tell anyone, they share thoughts. Like right now.

_So, Harry, ready for Miss Figg today?_ asks Buffy sarcastically. _Her and all of her old cat goodness?_

Buffy sees Harry smile out of the corner of her eyes. She grins too. _Better than a day with these gits_ he responds. Buffy laughs out loud as she sets the plate of finishes pancakes on a free space on the table.

"What's so funny, girl?" sneers Uncle Vernon. _DON'T BUFFY_ warns Harry.

Buffy sighs out loud, thinking to Harry _Fiiiiine..._ and saying out loud, "The news. They're saying owls have changed their sleeping patterns," she gestures at the TV as she speaks. Uncle Vernon grunts in response and goes back to his paper. Harry sighs in relief, grinning when Buffy dramatically rolls her eyes at him.

Breakfast is just ready by the time Dudley, their large cousin with three chins, comes thundering down the stairs and into the kitchen, eyes immediately on the table of presents. Moments later, he's yelling. "Thirty-six? I had thirty-seven last year!"

_I'm surprised... _starts Harry.

_I didn't know he could count_ finishes Buffy. Then they are both grinning at their joke.

"Well, some of these are bigger than last year's!" Tries Aunt Petunia.

Dudley's furious now. "I don't care! I want thirty-eight!"

"Ok, ok, we'll get two more while we're out today, how's that?" she placates him.

"Fine," mutters Dudley before tucking into his breakfast. Soon, everyone is eating silently.

After a bit, Aunt Petunia speaks up. "Miss Figg told me yesterday that she's sprained her ankle and won't be able to watch Harry and Buffy and... we've come down to the decision that they'll be coming with us to the Zoo." Harry's and Buffy's faces immediately light up as they turn to each other and gape, completely ignoring what happens next. Dudley is immediately throwing a fit, pounding on the table and pretending to cry. But it all ends when the doorbell rings and one of Dudley's friends is in.

Everyone is outside, getting into the car. Dudley and his friend hop in and Buffy goes to follow them, but is pulled back by Uncle Vernon.

Glaring into the twins' faces, he hisses, "Listen to me you two. Any funny business, any at all, and you'll be in that cupboard with no food for a week!" Knowing he means it, Buffy and Harry nod quickly in agreement before clambering into the car.

Despite being with Dudley and his friend Piers, despite the threat hanging over them, Buffy and Harry are having the best time they've ever had at the zoo. Seeing all of the animals is great, and when Dudley and his friend were getting ice cream, the lady had asked what they wanted before Uncle Vernon could rush them away and they each got a tiny frozen lemon pop. Then again when they were eating lunch, Dudley had thrown a fit about the ice cream in his box not being big enough and, when he got another, Buffy and Harry got to eat his old one.

After lunch they went to the reptile house. It was cool and dark in there, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone. Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons. Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place. It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car and crushed it into a trash can — but at the moment it didn't look in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep.

Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils.

"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.

"Do it again," Dudley ordered. Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.

Harry and Buffy moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. They wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself — no company except stupid people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. It was worse than having a cupboard as a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up; at least they got to visit the rest of the house.

Then, looking right at the twins, the snake lifts its head and winks.

Harry looks around to see if anyone else saw that, but Buffy is already winking back. Then, to their amazement, it points towards Dudley and _rolls its eyes_.

Harry gapes while Buffy replies, "Must be annoying. I mean, you've gotta get that all the of time."

Getting over his own shock as the snake nods, Harry now asks, "Where do you come from anyway?"

The snake nods at a sign by his cage and the two read it. Boa Constrictor, Brazil.

"Was it nice there?" Asks Harry. The snake nods at the sign again but, before Harry can read it, Buffy is speaking.

"You were bred in captivity. That sucks. Harry and I kind of were too, we never saw our parents. They died in a car crash when we were little."

The snake nods sympathetically, but stops when Piers and Dudley are suddenly yelling, pushing Buffy and Harry to the floor and pressing their faces against the glass. Immediately, though, the two yelp and jump back.

Because the glass is gone. Harry and Buffy watch as the Boa slithers out and away, hissing 'Thankssssss' at the two before it leaves.

The Zookeeper can't stop saying, "The glass-where'd the glass go?" He gave Aunt petunia a cup of tea for nerves before they all left, driving home.

"It about ate my leg!" Exclaims Dudley.

Harry doesn't have time to warn Buffy before she bursts out, "No it did not! It barely even nipped at your ankle for a warning, you oaf!"

It was a mistake. A big one, to call out Dudley, to call him an oaf. Neither of them had ever done that before. Harry is gaping at Buffy as she opens her mouth to yell again, but she is cut off by Uncle Vernon. "That's enough! That's more than enough! That's the last of it, that is!" He's yelling 'That's enough!' over and over again now as he pulls to the side of the street in the middle of London, turning off the car and stepping out.

Once outside, he pulls open Harry and Buffy's door, yanking the two out of the car. "You two are done! You can find yourselves a new home!" He slams their door shut, clambering back into the car. Be fore he can drive off, Buffy yells after him, "FINALLY!" And then they're gone, driving away. Harry watches, gaping after them until the car is out of site.

Then he turns to Buffy. Standing on the sidewalk in London, he watches her pace back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Harry just stands, in shock, as dusk comes. When it's almost dark, he finally speaks. "What've you done, Buffy?" Harry knows that conditions with the Dursleys weren't great, but they were better than this, than no home at all.

Buffy stops pacing. In the dim light that is getting darker and darker, Harry can see tears in her eyes. Her voice breaks when she speaks. "I've done it, Harry. I've done what I've wanted to do for so long and now... It's not a good thing." Then, she steps forwards and wraps her arms around Harry. They stand like that a moment, holding each other tightly, afraid to let go because they only have one another left.

They jump apart, though, when there is a loud 'POP' right behind them. Looking, they see someone who wasn't there a moment ago. He's old, with a long white beard and hair that tuck into his belt. And he's wearing big, long robes covered in stars and a matching pointy hat, holding a stick.

"Hello Buffy, Harry. I'm Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He looks at them with piercing eyes as he says this, looking like he's telling the truth.

"Oh my god," says Buffy, "We're being stalked by a crazy man."

Harry nods shakily, reaching out and grasping her hand tightly. Dumbledore chuckles. "Alas, Miss Potter, I am not insane."

Buffy snorts, sounding more confident when she says, "Prove it."

Dumbledore opens his mouth, but is cut off by a snarling. Behind him stands a man covered in dirt and blood when and extremely disfigured face and pointy teeth. The three of them take a step backwards from the man, only for Buffy to gasp, falling to the ground and clutching her head.

"Buffy!" cries Harry, coming to his knees and putting his arms around her. Dumbledore aims his wand at the creature, and Buffy and Harry look up in time to see a jet of red light come from it and hit the creature... man in the chest and... do nothing. Dumbledore gasps.

After this, Buffy lets go of her head, jumping up. "Right. That's odd. And I'm willing to bet this is about to get odder," she stays, stepping out of Harry's grip and towards the man. "So, you see, I heard the oddest myth once. It was about this girl, the only one in the world like her, that has super strength and amazing senses and healing ability. And when she dies, another girl is 'Called' to be like her. And the myth talked about demons and werewolves... and vampires. It talked about how she fights them alone 'cause she's the Vampire Slayer. And I'm thinking, wow nothing's ever sounded more real right now, right?"

When Buffy says Vampire Slayer, the vampire snarls at her, stepping back as she steps forwards. Harry and Dumbledore just gape as she advances on it. "It also talks about a wooden stake through the heart killing vamps." She looks around a moment, finding that the only wooden thing in sight, besides Dumbledore's stick, is a big wooden crate behind the vampire. "And you know what else? I think I'm the youngest girl ever to be called." With this, the vampire and Buffy charge each other. Buffy ducks when he swings his fist at her. She stands back up and kicks at the vampire, sending him flying into the crate, shattering it. She rushes forwards, getting there when he stands, and grabbing a pointy piece of the shattered crate. He swings at her again and she ducks, swinging her foot around and knocking his feet out from under him. She jumps up, landing on his check, and pushing the wood through his chest and pulling it out. He grins.

"You missed the heart," he hisses, and throws her yards away, off of him.

"Buffy!" Yell Harry and Dumbledore, both starting towards her. But they stop when she springs up as he gets to her, and she flips backwards to avoid his next blow, kicking his face while she flips. He's knocked to the ground and she jumps on his chest again, stradling him and bringing the stake down with both hands right into his heart. He turns to dust.

Forgetting her make-shift stake, Buffy caughs and stands, waving her hand in her own face as if to clear the dust, and walks back towards Dumbledore and Harry.

Dumbledore is chuckling lightly, Buffy smiling, and Harry gaping. "That was impeccable timing," says Dumbledore. "And you are correct, Miss Potter. You're the youngest ever called."

**Heyy! I hope you liked it! I will say one thing-I know it's important to the storyline that they ultimately call the Dursley's house home until seventeen so I will fix that, right? I hope you liked it! PLEASE REVIEW!**


	3. Week One In The Wizarding World

**I don't own anything!**

"It is perhaps by chance, Miss Potter that Hogwarts was built on a Hellmouth. Have you heard what that is, by chance?" Dumbledore continues in his explanation to Harry and Buffy as they all sit in his office in Hogwarts. He'd already explained what all about the wizarding world, including Voldemort's history and their own. And they'd met Hagrid the Groundskeeper, a very large and exuberant man that they both took too immediately.

"Yes Sir, it's an opening to Hell that attracts every kind of demon for miles around, a demon feeding frenzy. By the way, whose smart idea was it to build a school on one?" Buffy furrows her eyebrows in the thought of her own question, ignoring Harry's mental scolding for her word choice. The both seem a bit shocked when Dumbledore chuckles at her question.

"That would be the four founders of our school; Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Helga Hufflepuff, whom did not know of Slayers and Hellmouths. Now, due to the Hellmouth, you will be patrolling Hogwarts grounds every other night once at school, starting the first day. I apologize if this inconveniences you." Dumbledore seems as if he's about to go into another spiel about her duty to the world when Buffy cuts him off.

"Ya, I get it. Sacred Duty and all that." Then she sighs, wiggling into a more comfortable position in her chair. She stops, though, when she realizes Dumbledore is staring at the both of them. "What?"

Dumbledore suddenly smiles, looking away a moment before looking back with his x-raying eyes behind half-moon spectacles. "I was merely reveling in how much the two of you look like your parents, Harry with your mother's eyes and your father's body and hair, and you with your mother's body and hair in a light blond color and your mother's eyes also. The resemblance is uncanny, if I may say." Buffy and Harry smiles at Dumbledore, this is the first time they've ever heard anything about how their parents looked. After a bit, though, the moment is over and it's back to business.

Buffy ends the silence. "Sir, I read about the Slayer having a teacher, a Watcher. Who is mine?"

Dumbledore smiles more broadly. "I will admit that I should have said sooner. After long discussions with the counsel, I will be your watcher. As for teaching you, and training you, we will begin this week. Here, at Hogwarts, I have a course set up for physical and mental practice at Slaying Vampires and other demons. I will also be teaching you the types of demons. As for next week, you two will be staying in a room at the Leaky Cauldron in London, with Hagrid checking on your periodically. As it will be the week before classes begin, I will be a bit too busy to train you. After school begins, though, your training will continue. And Harry, you will have the choice to stay this week for the training or to go early to the Leaky Cauldron."

Harry doesn't need to hear Buffy's mental pleading to know his answer. "I'll stay with Buffy."

The next week passes much too quickly, in Buffy's opinion. Every day they wake up and dress in clothing provided by house elves, Harry in jeans and a t-shirt and Buffy in yoga pants and a tank-top for her exercises in training. They eat breakfast with Hagrid and Dumbledore in the Great Hall, discussing the day's schedule. After that, Dumbledore and Buffy disappear into Dumbledore's office and pour over book after book on demons for three hours. During this time, Harry will explore the castle (usually getting lost for most of the time) or hang out with Hagrid. Then, when three hours is up and it's nine a.m., Harry and Hagrid watch Buffy beat up the fake demons and pass large obstacle courses that Dumbledore conjures with flying colors. Then it is lunch time, and afterwards a few more hours of books then training before dinner, showers, and bed. After seven days of this cycle, Harry and Buffy are ready to go to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Harry, Buffy, I will see you both at school. And remember, Buffy, come to my office at nine p.m. on the first day to get weapons for patrol." He grins at the two of them in a way that makes the twins feel cared for. "We'll be going by apparition, and I will only stay long enough to check you into your rooms. Ready?" He holds out his arms for the two of them to grab. Nodding, they both hold on. Dumbledore turns on the spot and, with a 'POP!' they are gone.

They reappear in a dark ally in London. Then, it is just a quick walk to a tiny, grubby-looking pub. Harry and Buffy wouldn't have noticed it if Dumbledore hadn't directed them in.

For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut. The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in.

Almost as soon as it had gotten quiet, the noise became deafening. Everyone was standing and peering over one another to look at Harry and Buffy, calling to them, each one scared to move first. But, once the bartender rushes out from behind the bar and towards the twins, they all come forwards.

"Bless my soul, you're the Potter twins! I'm Tom, it's so wonderful to meet you!" While he says this, Tome takes their hands one at a time and shakes them fervently. Then Harry and Buffy find themselves shaking everyone in the bar's hand.

"Doris Crockford, Potter Twins, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."

"So proud, Mr. Potter and Miss Potter, I'm just so proud."

"Always wanted to shake your hands — I'm all of a flutter."

"Delighted, Potter Twins, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."

"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop." Buffy nods along, she remembers that odd experience also.

"They remember!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!" Harry and Buffy shook hands again and again — Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.

A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching. He wore a purple turban.

"Professor Quirrell! Harry, Buffy, meet Professor Quirrell. He will be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this upcoming year.

"P-P-Potters," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand and then Buffy's, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."

Harry is about to respond, but stops when he notices Buffy. She's glaring at the turban on his head, her mouth in a pouting frown. "Have a nice day, Professor." Then she drops his hand.

Quirrell takes the dismissal quickly and scampers off, no one noticing Buffy's now vexed mood except for Harry.

It takes ten minutes for the crowd around them to clear. When it finally does, Dumbledore takes Harry and Buffy up to the desk and checks in their room with Tom. Once that is done, he turns to the twins.

"You will get your Hogwarts letters tomorrow with all of the information you need, Hagrid will be bringing it to you. Remember, Buffy, come to my office and nine for the weapons on the first night. Good bye for now!" And with a cheerful smile, Dumbledore leaves the Leaky Cauldron.

Two hours later finds Harry and Buffy sitting in the room they will be staying in, Buffy smoothing the sheets on her bed and Harry laying back on his, watching his sister. His mind has been stuck this whole time on how Buffy acted with Professor Quirrell.

"Buffy?"

"Yea Harry?" She sits down on her bed now and faces him.

"What was with how you acted towards Quirrell?"

"Oh." Buffy frowns now, thinking about how to explain it. "I don't know. I just… I _felt_ something. A source of evil in his purple hat."

Harry can't help it, he laughs. "You think his turban is evil?"

Buffy giggles also. "My Slayer Sense was tingling."

After a moment more of laughter, the two seeming to release feelings that had been pent up in them the past week with the action, Harry speaks again. "It's weird. Everything is happening just so fast, the world is changing to reveal something so confusing and amazing… We're changing. Especially you, Buffy. You were Buffy-my-sister and now you're Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

Buffy looks up at Harry, the grin fading from her face, and she says, "I know exactly what you mean. But you have to keep in mind, we're still us no matter what. It's the world around that's changing. We've always been us, now we just know how we're perceived." After she says this, there is a long silent pause of shock from both of them. Buffy never usually sounds… deep.

The silent pause is ended by a pounding knock on the door, followed by the booming voice of Rubeus Hagrid. "Buffy, Harry, it's me!"

Grinning at Hagrid's timing, Buffy and Harry jump up and go to the door, Harry pulling it open. "What's up Hagrid?" asks Buffy.

"I'm taken yer two ta Diagon Ally."

**Hey! I hope you liked it! I can't wait until I am finally posting Hogwarts days! Please please please review!**


	4. Gringotts Wizarding Bank

**I don't own anything**

"Diagon Ally? Isn't that the Wizarding Market connected to this place?" Asks Harry, opening the door wider and standing back to let Hagrid in.

"It is, an' I'm taking you there now ter buy yer supplies. You'll be able ter visit the shops an' things once I've shown you 'round a bit, taken yer to Gringotts bank. Which, by the way, you'd be mad ter try an' rob." Hagrid motions for them to follow him as he starts to head towards the stairs, and they do, continuing the conversation as they go.

"Why would you be mad to rob it?" asks Buffy, Harry nodding in agreement of their confusion.

"For one thin', Gringotts is 'bout the safest place ther is ter hide yer valuables, besides Hogwarts o'course. Some say they've got dragons guardin' the more high-security vaults."

"Dragons?" asks Harry

"Yup! I've always wanted one, meself." At Hagrid's words, Harry and Buffy exchange a _look_.

At this point, Hagrid leads them through a door and into a small back area with two trash bins and a brick wall. Hagrid takes out his pink umbrella and taps a few bricks that Harry and Buffy make sure to memorize by heart and suddenly the wall has a small hole in the center. The hole grows wider and wider until there is an archway plenty big for even Hagrid to cross that reveals an amazing street beyond.

The street is long, ending with a towering marble building labelled Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Along the road, leading up to that building, are dozens of buildings filled with magical things and hundreds of people in robes. "I'll just be taking yer ta Gringotts today, you'll be able ter go ter the other shops yerselves through the week," Hagrid informs them, walking forwards into the street. Buffy and Harry follow closely behind him.

"Sounds fun," says Buffy. As they wind their way through the large crowd on the small street, she and Harry both find themselves hiding their scars with their hair self-consciously.

Once in the bank, Harry and Buffy and Hagrid come right up to an available counter. Behind the counter, the Twins can see a small and angry man with large ears.

"The Potters would like to access their account," says Hagrid to the man.

"Key?" Asks the man in a bored way.

"Oh! I think I've got it in 'ere somewhere," Hagrid grunts as he begins to empty the contents of his pockets onto the counters, including mice and dog treats and a few sausages. A few moments later, he pulls out a small silver key and calls out, "Ha! Ther it is!" and hurriedly stuffs the rest of the junk back in his pockets.

The man, with a disgusted look on his face, takes the key. "Oh, and I've got this letter from Dumbledore, I'm needin' to go to vault 714 for Hogwarts business." He hands the man a letter.

_Oh!_ exclaims Buffy over her and Harry's psychic link. _He's a goblin! Dumbledore told me about them! _Harry nods his understanding in her direction, not responding otherwise as they all follow the Goblin to the back of the bank and through some doors.

Beyond the door is a giant, cavernous room with vault after vault that stretch as far as the eyes can see. Connecting the vaults is a railway with carts to ride. The four of them clamber into the cart and they're off, zooming through the twisting turning passages at a break-neck speed. Hagrid is immediately looking green. After two or three minutes, they come to a halt in front of one of the doors and the goblin climbs out.

"Potter Vault." Hagrid hands Harry and Buffy each a small bag for containing money and they follow the goblin to the door, watching as he opens it with the key and pulls the door open. Inside of the room, the twins realize and gape at, is a small fortune of gold, silver, and bronze coins. Having been taught the money system already, they two fill their sacks with a fair amount of each kind before closing the door and climbing back into the cart and speeding off, deeper into the vaults.

_We're rich!_ thinks Buffy.

_I noticed! Besides that, though, I wonder what Hagrid is getting?_

_Well, obviously something that needs protecting. Remember, Hagrid said that Gringotts is the second safest place to keep something besides Hogwarts? And he said when he handed the goblin the letter- Hogwarts business. But what would need that kind of protection?_

Just as she thinks this to Harry, the cart pulls to a stop and Hagrid and the goblin step out. To open the door, the goblin seems to stroke it. Whatever was inside is completely emptied by Hagrid before they're back in the cart and leaving.

_Something small_ replies Harry.

After a minute or two of silent cart riding, they're back at the doors. Once outside, the sunlight seems blinding to the three of them.

"Righ', I'll be goin' ter the pub. Here're yer Hogwarts letters. I'll see yer two tomorrow," after handing Buffy and Harry each a letter, Hagrid walks away.

Grinning at each other in excitement, Harry and Buffy tear open their letters and read through them. After they are both finished reading, Buffy says, "I think we should get wands first."

Harry nods his agreement and they both head off down the street together, eyes searching for what could possibly be a wand shop. Eventually, they spot Olivander's and enter the store, eyes wide at what they see inside.

**Hi! Sorry it's so short! I've just been having some huge writer's block, but I needed to get a chapter out... So here it is! I hope you liked it and please review, I'll update soon!**


	5. The Train Ride Part 1

**I am really REALLY sorry it took so long to get this out! Every time I sat down to write the chapter (when I could even get enough time), I ended up scrapping it and starting over. Eventually I had a chapter that I sort of liked almost finished, but I lost that. So now, months later, I'm taking another stab at it.**

Harry couldn't stop his puzzled mind. It just kept going, no matter how hard he tried to quiet it and get some sleep. Sometime around midnight, because neither twin could sleep, they had forgone to the separate beds and curled up together for comfort. Almost as soon as Buffy had lain down next to her twin, she had fallen asleep. Harry worried about Buffy even more than he used to now the she had the responsibility of being the Slayer. He worried about her now that they had been introduced to the much more dangerous and real worlds of magic and demons, and he worried about her a lot more because she was keeping a secret from him.

Harry knew she was keeping it from him. He also knew that it had something to do with that Voldemort guy that had murdered their parents. He really wanted to know, but Buffy was always better with secrets.

Harry thought back to the beginning of their week in Diagon Ally, to the time they spent in Olivander's Wand Shop right after Hagrid had left. He remembered how he had gone through nearly all of the wands in the store before the phoenix feather one chose him. And then Olivander's story of the twin wands… that had confused him deeply. Why would he have a wand like a murderer's?

Then, when it came time for Buffy to get a wand, Olivander had gone straight to the back of the shop before coming out with a completely black box covered in dust. He had whipped the box clean with a rag before taking out a cherry red wand and handing it to Buffy.

Buffy had asked him why it was red, eyeing the thing suspiciously and not taking it.

Olivander's reply had shaken them both to the core. "It's a Slayer wand, only chosen girls that happen to be witches can use it. The wood has had many incantations cast upon it to make it durable enough to be used as a stake, among other reasons. And the core was very hard to obtain: the soul of the First Slayer, infused with the essence of pure demons. This wand has power beyond your wildest dreams, Buffy. Try it."

After a few moments of thinking, Buffy had reached out slowly and carefully before snatching it quickly from Olivander's hand. As soon as she grabbed it, her face _changed_. Harry knew that he would never in a million years be able to describe the look that took over her features. He saw the muscles in her hand clench around the stick, and Buffy held it like it was a precious gift from above. She gave it a small flick and the entire shop was suddenly immaculate: all of the boxes tipped over in Harry's search were placed back and organized, everything was dusted, and it all smelt like summer roses.

Unconsciously, Harry gripped his wand. He could feel a tiny little pull that held him to it, like the pull that held him to Buffy (the pull that holds all loved ones together), but a bit different.

He heard the small hoot of the snowy owl in the corner and smiled at the memory of buying her with Buffy.

After a few more minutes of worrying about the train ride to Hogwarts the next day, Harry drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

!#!#!#!#!#!#!#

"Damn it Hagrid! Couldn't you've thought to tell us _how to get on the bloody train_?" Buffy's hushed anger was only noticed by Harry as the two twins stood by the entrance to platform nine. They had combed through and through the station, and they could not find a platform nine and three quarters.

Harry's mind was racing with dread. He was thinking stupid panicked things like 'are we going to have to return to the Dursleys?' while Buffy was thinking about how long they may have to wait until Dumbledore or Hagrid came to get them and reprimand them for not being smart enough to get onto a train, or for worrying them or something of the like.

At that moment a group of people passed just behind them and the twins caught a few words of what they were saying.

"— packed with Muggles, of course —"

Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's or Buffy's in front of him — and they had an owl.

Heart hammering, Harry pushed his cart after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying. Buffy silently thanked the Powers That Be and followed silently after them.

"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.

"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go…"

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first." What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Harry and Buffy watched, careful not to blink in case they missed it — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.

"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?" Buffy grinned and thought, 'more twins!'

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone — but how had he done it? Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there — and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere. After the first twin-Fred- had gone, Buffy understood how it worked. Harry still had yet to get it.

"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman. Buffy rolled her eyes and stayed a bit behind Harry as he came forwards.

"Hello, dears," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."

"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is — the thing is, I don't know how to —"

"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded. Buffy watched the woman and her two children left on this side of the barrier closely as Harry interacted with them. "Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Er — okay," said Harry.

He pushed his trolley around and stared at the barrier. It looked very solid. Buffy watched him carefully, trying not to giggle at how worried he was. She always thought that he needed just to relax sometimes.

He started to walk toward it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten. Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that barrier, and then he'd be in trouble. Leaning forward on his cart, he broke into a heavy run — the barrier was coming nearer and nearer — he wouldn't be able to stop — the cart was out of control — he was a foot away — he closed his eyes, ready for the crash. Buffy giggled out loud at Harry now, but he didn't hear her because he had already passed through.

Buffy turned to the little girl-Ginny- Ron, and the mother and told them, "I'd best follow after him quickly, he gets worried about me easily. Thank you for your help."

The mother grinned at her kindly, "No problem dear. We may see you on the platform, but if not… take care." Buffy nodded in the woman's direction before wheeling her cart around towards the barrier and striding confidently through.

On the other side of the barrier, A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts' Express, eleven o'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the barrier had been with Buffy coming though, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it.

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.

The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry and Buffy pushed their carts off down the platform in search of an empty seat. They passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."

"Oh, Neville," he heard the old woman sigh.

A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.

"Give us a look, Lee, go on." The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg. Harry and Buffy pressed on through the crowd until they found an empty compartment near the end of the train. Harry put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot. Harry refused to ask his twin sister, who he knew now had super strength, for help so she just giggled and watched him struggle.

"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.

"Yes, please," Harry panted.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"

With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment. Buffy watched them then struggle with her trunk while she and Harry both knew she could get it on herself without even thinking about it.

"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar. The redheaded twins turned to look at Buffy and noticed that she, too, had a scar like a lightning bolt on her collar bone.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you —?"

"They are," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to the twins.

"What?" said Harry.

"Harry and Buffy Potter." chorused the twins.

"Oh, them," said Harry.

Buffy giggled at Harry's response and interrupted, "Yes, we are."

The two boys gawked at them, and Harry felt himself turning red. Buffy simply rolled her eyes. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mom," one of the twins said.

With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.

Harry sat down next to the window where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. Buffy silently told him, _you shouldn't be listening in, you know_. Harry ignored her, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief. "Ron, you've got something on your nose." The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose. Buffy giggled at the boy's expense.

"Mom— geroff" He wriggled free.

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.

"Shut up," said Ron.

"Where's Percy?" said their mother.

"He's coming now."

The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and Harry noticed a red and gold badge on his chest with the letter P on it. Buffy remembered Dumbledore saying something about older students getting badges.

"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front: the prefects have got two compartments to themselves —"

"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once —"

"Or twice —"

"A minute —"

"All summer !" Now, both Harry and Buffy were quietly giggling.

"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.

"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.

"Because he's a prefect," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term — send me an owl when you get there."

She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins. "Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've — you've blown up a toilet or —"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."

"Great idea though, thanks, Mom."

"It's not funny. And look after Ron."

"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."

"Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.

"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"

Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.

"You know that black-haired boy and the blond girl who were near us in the station? Know who they are?"

"Who?"

"The Potter Twins!"

Harry heard the little girl's voice. "Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see them, Mom, eh please…"

"You've already seen them, Ginny, and the poor children aren't something you goggle at in a zoo. Are they really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Asked them, saw their scars. They're really there — like lightning."

"Poor dear — no wonder they were alone, I wondered. Harry was ever so polite when he asked how to get onto the platform."

"Never mind that, do you think they remember what You-Know-Who looks like?"

Their mother suddenly became very stern. "I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though they need reminding of that on his first day at school..."

"All right, keep your hair on."

A whistle sounded.

"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts' toilet seat!"

"George!"

"Only joking, Mom."

The train began to move. Harry and Buffy saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.

Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry and Buffy felt a great leap of excitement. They didn't know what classes would be like — but, basing their guesses off of the past two weeks, it had to be better than what they were leaving behind.

The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest redheaded boy came in.

"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry and Buffy. "Everywhere else is full."

"Go ahead," said Buffy. Ron quickly sat down. He glanced up at the twins before quickly looking back down, pretending her hadn't done so.

"Hey, Ron." The twins were back. "Listen, we're going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," mumbled Ron.

"Harry, Buffy," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."

"Bye," said Buffy, Harry, and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.

"Are you really the Potter Twins?" Ron blurted out. Buffy nodded in response. "Oh — well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got — you know…"

Buffy realized what he meant first, and pulled down the neck of her top just enough for him to see the lightning bolt scar. Harry noticed this and pushed back his bangs to reveal his own.

"So that's where You-Know-Who…?" Ron asked the question awkwardly and nervously.

"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."

"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.

"Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else," butted in Buffy.

"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry and Buffy for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.

"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him. Buffy found Ron interesting too, but she was quickly losing interest in the conversation. Her mind was more focused on patrolling Hogwarts grounds that night.

"Er — Yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him. I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"

"Horrible — well, not all of them. Our aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers," Harry quickly turned to Buffy and said, "not to mean anything against you, Buffy." Buffy nodded.

"Five brothers," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat." Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep. "His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff — I mean, I got Scabbers instead." Ron's ears went pink.

He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.

Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he and Buffy had never had any money until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.

"… and until Hagrid told us, we didn't know anything about being a wizard or about our parents or Voldemort —"

Ron gasped.

"What?" said Harry.

"You said You-Know-Who's name!" Buffy scoffed at this, having decided to listen halfway a moment ago.

said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people —"

"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Harry, "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn… I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."

"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.

After a moment there came a knock on the door. Buffy pushed it open to reveal a tall boy about their age with tussled brown hair and a heavy blush on his cheeks.

"Sorry to ask," he began, "But can I join you guys? A rude blond kid and his lackeys just kicked me out of my compartment and everyone else said no."

Harry and Ron nodded and Buffy stood back to let him in. After they all got his luggage onto the rack above the seats and sat down (with the boy next to Ron and opposite Buffy), he spoke, "My name's Xander Harris. You guys?"

Buffy grinned at him and said, "Hi Xander. That's Ron Weasley, he's my brother Harry, and I'm Buffy"

Xander's eyes widened. "Buffy-like Potter, Buffy?"

She smirked and nodded at him. "Cool!" said Xander. Then he quickly covered up, "I-I mean, s'not like it matters either way, 'cause… uh…"

Buffy kept smirking while Ron elbowed Xander, causing him to fall silent.

Buffy and Harry didn't quite know what to think about how everyone reacted when they heard their names, but they were both beginning to realize that this year was going to be _interesting_.

**Sorry about the cruddy ending, but it was just getting TOO LONG for me to handle. I will start work on the next chapter as soon as I can.**


	6. The Train Ride Part 2

**Be happy guys, new chapter! By the by-(**_**SUPER IMPORTANT-READ THIS PART)**_** Harry and Buffy did in fact meet Malfoy in Madame Malkin's robe shop, I just forgot to write it and I'm too lazy to go back and add it in. All of this is really getting to be hard work because I have to take what's actually in the book and shove two more (so far) characters in… In fact, I did write their meeting and it was bloody brilliant (took forever) but then my computer crashed before I could finish it and back it up, and I lost it.**

**I don't remember doing one of these before now, so: Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. Those things go to the B:TVS gang and J. K. Rowling. And yes, I did borrow a few lines directly from the book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (again by J. K. Rowling)**

**Enjoy!**

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry and Buffy, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to their feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Xander mumbled something almost completely incoherent. The twins went out into the corridor.

They had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver Harry was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry. Buffy, however, already knew that they would have things like pumpkin pasties and felt a sugar quill craving coming on. Harry was a bit confused to see Berttie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things. Not wanting to miss anything, Harry got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.

Ron and Xander stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat. Buffy sat down also, holding her sugar quills, and watched the boys interact. She knew what Harry was going to do.

"Hungry, are you?" Asked Xander.

"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef…"

"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on —"

"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."

"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with (besides Buffy). It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, Xander, and Buffy; eating their way through all Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten). After just a few minutes, everyone was laughing heartily as Buffy smudged Ron's and Xander's noses with Cauldron Cakes.

"What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.

"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"What?"

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."

Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

Harry looked up at Buffy and said, "That reminds me! Don't forget to visit Dumbledore tonight, Buffy, for… that thing…"

While Ron watched on confusedly, Buffy rolled her eyes and responded, "Duh, Harry. Read what card has to say about him."

Unsurely, Xander asked, "Why would you need to visit Dumbledore on the first night, Buffy?" Ron nodded to show that he was also confused.

"I'm Buffy Potter," replied Buffy, hoping that they would believe it had something to do with being a Potter.

Xander and Ron were still confused, but they didn't press the subject.

After a moment, Harry read the card:

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Harry turned the card back over and saw that Dumbledore's face had disappeared. He was still getting used to the whole 'pictures move' thing, but a couple weeks in the wizarding world has helped him.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful. "Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?" When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up," said Harry and Buffy at the same time.

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him…"

He left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…" He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end. "Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —"

He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.

"Er — all right." He cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it?

"I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She said all this very fast.

Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned the entire course books by heart either. Buffy and Xander both rolled their eyes at the mad woman, who did not notice.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Harry Potter, that's my sister Buffy, and he's Xander," said Harry.

"Are you really?" asked Hermione.

"I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"Are we?" said Harry, feeling dazed. Buffy frowned, still unnoticed, because she already knew they were in all of those books and it had irked her to the core when Dumbledore had shown her.

"Goodness, didn't you know? I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do any of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. Xander chuckled and Buffy nodded her agreement. He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry.

"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin…"

"That's the house Vol-, I mean; You-Know-Who was in?"

"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.

"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses.

"And his toes, too," chimed in Buffy. Xander leaned in a bit closer to the rat and poked it, as if to get a closer look, and then nodded his agreement.

"So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school. The question reminded Buffy of how she had yet to tell Harry just what exactly the average lifespan of a Slayer is. As she frowned at the thought, Xander watched her with a confused expression. Something was up with Buffy, besides her being _Buffy Potter_, and he wanted to know what.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron.

"Did you hear about Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security vault," said Xander.

Buffy cut in to the conversation, "Actually, since we've been living in a room in the Leaky Cauldron from the past week, so we did in fact see bit of news."

Ron frowned in surprise, "You have? Cool! Anyway, I wonder how they didn't get caught?"

"Me too," said Xander, "I thought that place was supposed to be completely safe. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."

"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.

"Er — I don't know any." Harry confessed. Buffy nodded to show she was the same, and Xander was about to respond when Ron cut him off.

"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world —" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. He was just taking Harry and Buffy (who wasn't listening) through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.

Three boys entered, and Harry and Buffy recognized the middle one at once: it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. Buffy almost started giggling at the memory of how oddly he had acted around her, and how angry he had made her brother. Instead, she let a mischievous smirk spread onto her face.

The pale boy opened his mouth to speak, and from the look on his face it was going to be snide, but he stopped when he saw Buffy. He stuttered a moment before saying, "Oh-it's you!"

Buffy almost laughed and responded, "Yeah, otherwise known as Buffy, and you're you, and Harry is Harry, and Ron is Ron, and Xander is Xander. I never did catch your name, by the way." Ron gaped a little bit and whispered in Harry's ear,

"Your sister knows Malfoy?" Harry didn't respond and instead continued to glare at Malfoy. He didn't like that pale boy one bit, and he acted way too weird around his sister.

The boy finally returned to his normal 'too cool for you' state and responded, "I'm Draco Malfoy, and these are my mates Crabbe and Goyle. So, is it true? They're saying all through the train that the famous Potter Twins are in this compartment."

Buffy rolled her eyes, already completely sick of the fame her name brought her. "Yea, me and my brother."

Ron was silently giggling from his spot, and had been since Malfoy had introduced himself. The blond boy turned on him. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He turned back to Buffy and Harry, looking between them as he said, "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are better than others, Potters. You don't want to be seen around the wrong sort; I can help you there." He held out his hand to Harry first, and when he didn't take it, to Buffy, who turned her head from him.

Harry narrowed his eyes at Malfoy and told him in the most threatening voice he could muster, "We can tell who the wrong sorts are for ourselves, Malfoy."

Malfoy when pink in the cheeks. "You'd best be careful, unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys, and it'll rub off on you." Harry, Ron, Xander, and Buffy all jumped up at this. They were beyond furious with this little boy.

"Say that again," Ron dared him, turning as red as his hair from anger.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.

"Unless you get out now," said Harry, feeling confident that they would win if it indeed boiled down to that. They outnumbered them, and they had Buffy with them.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some." Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell. Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle— Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.

"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.

"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No — I don't believe it — he's gone back to sleep."

And so he had.

"You've met Malfoy before?" inquired Xander, facing Buffy.

Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley, leaving out how he acted around his twin.

"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt one your know, by the way, did you know?"

Before she had fully left, Buffy said, "Wait Hermione… Would you show me the way to the loo? I can't exactly change in here." Harry furrowed his brow in confusion, wondering why Buffy asked for help, she never did that. Then he realized what she was doing, at about the same time Hermione did.

Hermione smiled at the lightly-veiled attempt towards friendship and nodded. Buffy grabbed the correct clothing from her trunk and went off with Hermione.

Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.

Ron, Xander and Harry took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him; you could see his sneakers underneath them.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train; it will be taken to the school separately."

Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. Xander's eyes were a bit too wide as he tried to fake his cool. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads and Harry grinned and nodded in response before looking around for Buffy.

"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice. At the end of the walk, Buffy was suddenly there, one arm linked with a grinning Xander and the other linked with a stumbling Hermione. She flashed Harry and Ron a smile before looking back towards where she was walking to avoid tripping.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!" The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Buffy immediately climbed into a boat together, followed by Ron and Xander. Buffy smiled awkwardly at Hermione as an apology, but the girl waved her off with a real smile and joined Neville in another boat.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

_**I am sooooo, so sorry for the delay! I got halfway through this chapter before I lost all ideas I had, and I literally could not write anything worthwhile for sooo long! But here it is! Please, Please, UBER PLEASE review so that I know you haven't all given up on me and so that I don't give up on it myself!**_


	7. The Feast

**So, I just re-read all of the chapters I've posted so far in the story, and cringed a little bit. I promise to fix it up soon! And, as some of you may have noticed, Dumbledore's been a bit OOC and that's because I've been sort of unconsciously mixing his character with Giles. Whoops. **

***A COUPLE WEEKS LATER-Still working on this chapter***

**So, I took a break writing this because my writer's block came back with a vengeance, and when I was ready to get back to it, the site I usually use to access the first book (the only one I don't own) is down. Dang it! Oh well, I'll do what I can without the site for now, to finish this chapter at least. Maybe then I'll buy another copy of the first book, to replace the one my siblings and I loved to death.**

***MORE WEEKS LATER-Still working on it***

**I AM SO SORRY! I have had absolutely NO ideas on what to put here, and I'm just going to try and summarize my way through the book bits until I get to what you really want to see!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. Those things belong to Joss and the Buffy crew and J. K. Rowling!**

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross. Buffy's first thought was about how far she could go with this woman before crossing her line.

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so big you could have fit the whole of the Dursleys' house in it. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously. Buffy linked arms with Hermione again to calm the girl-her nervous bouncing was grating on Buffy's nerves.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points." The Weasley twins crossed over Buffy's mind and she smiled. "At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Hermione turned to help Neville as Buffy ran her fingers over Harry's head to flatten his hair a bit. Xander pointed out the dirt on Ron's nose to him.

"I will return when we are ready for you," said McGonagall.

"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron with some fear in his voice. Hermione opened her mouth to tell them, but Buffy quickly shushed her. She knew already too, but she wanted to see what they would come up with.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." Ron was especially pale when he said this, as if he honestly believed what his brother had told him. Hermione furrowed her brow in confusion and Buffy giggled. Xander, who also knew what was going to happen, winked at the girls.

"I heard that if you don't pass the test, you get punished," Xander told the other two boys. They paled more.

"Punished?" squeaked Ron.

Harry tried hard not to listen. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when he'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying that he'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue. He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom. Then something happened that made him jump about a foot in the air — several people behind him screamed.

"What the —?" He gasped, and so did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall; pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. It briefly crossed Harry's mind that he didn't remember seeing them during his stay here a week ago. They seemed to be arguing.

What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?" ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years. Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall. "Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind Buffy and Hermione, with Ron and Xander behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Harry smiled at the now-familiar sight. Two weeks ago, this place had quickly begun to be something like a home to him, and he was surprised by how much the week in Diagon Alley had made him miss it. The huge room with a high ceiling that reflected the outside weather still took his breath away to look at, and there were four long tables taking up most of the space in it, which had been empty before. He saw Buffy grinning happily at the head table, containing all of the teachers. She met Dumbledore's eyes for a moment before he inspected all of the other first years with his bright blue eyes.

Harry grinned at how awed Ron and Xander were by this place. He was about to speak when something seemed to catch their attention at the front of the room. McGonagall had placed down the dusty old hat from Dumbledore's office of a stool at the front. Everyone in the hall was staring at the hat, so he watched it too. Would they have to get a rabbit out of it, he wondered? Suddenly, a tear opened in the hat like a mouth, and it began to sing.

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

_But don't judge on what you see,_

_I'll eat myself if you can find_

_A smarter hat than me._

_You can keep your bowlers black,_

_Your top hats sleek and tall,_

_For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

_And I can cap them all._

_There's nothing hidden in your head_

_The Sorting Hat can't see,_

_So try me on and I will tell you_

_Where you ought to be._

_You might belong in Gryffindor,_

_Where dwell the brave at heart,_

_Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

_Set Gryffindors apart;_

_You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

_Where they are just and loyal,_

_Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

_And unafraid of toil;_

_Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

_if you've a ready mind,_

_Where those of wit and learning,_

_Will always find their kind;_

_Or perhaps in Slytherin_

_You'll make your real friends,_

_Those cunning folk use any means_

_To achieve their ends._

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

_And don't get in a flap!_

_You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

_For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred; he was going on about wrestling a troll."

Harry smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he did wish they could have tried it on without everyone watching. The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment. If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him. Xander made a small face at Ron and Harry before saying, "I hope we're not all put into different houses!"

Buffy's eyes widened; she hadn't thought at all about that! She just assumed… Well, actually, she didn't assume anything. She just didn't think of it. Ron and Harry nodded in agreement at the sentiment.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!" A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause —

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" was the first to be put in Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked like an unpleasant lot.

He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during gym at his old school. He and had always been last to be chosen, not because they were no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they liked them.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide. "Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Hermione in the line sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!" Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned.

A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous. What if he wasn't chosen at all? What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train? Buffy realized what he must have been thinking and sent him a few thoughts of comfort, _Don't worry_. Harry nodded at her, but he was still worried.

"Harris, Alexander!" Xander flashed them a nervous grin before jogging up to the stool and placing the hat on his head. Almost a minute later,

"Gryffindor!" The table on the far left cheered again.

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.

There weren't many people left now. "Moon"…, "Nott"… , "Parkinson"… , then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"… , then "Perks, Sally-Anne"… , and then, at last —

"Potter, Buffy!" The room erupted with whispers as she walked forward. She ignored them, sitting on the stool with confidence and placing the hat on her head. It slid down to her eyes.

"A slayer, eh," whispered the small voice in her ear. She furrowed her brows a little bit. She knew the hat was telepathic, but it was just odd to experience proof of that for herself. "I've judged quite a few potentials before. You're all the same-no offense intended. So brave, always willing to protect others, no matter the cost. You're no different, and I daresay you're even more fitting of this house than they were, GRYFFINDOR!" Buffy knew that the hat had shouted the house name aloud. She removed the hat from her head and walked proudly to the table cheering loudly to the far left, taking a seat by Hermione and Xander. Harry was called next.

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.

"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, my goodness, yes — and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting… So where shall I put you?"

Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, 'Not Slytherin, not Slytherin…'

"Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that — no? Well, if you're sure — better be GRYFFINDOR!"

He sighed in relief and pulled the hat off, setting it back down on the stool before hurrying over to sit with his sister. Percy the prefect shook his and Buffy's hands vigorously as the Weasley twins cheered, "We got the Potters, we got the Potters!"

"Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now.

Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The table burst into cheers as he ran to the table, plopping down next to Harry and accepting his congratulatory words from everyone.

"Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin, and Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Harry's stomach rumbled as he looked down at his golden plate, wondering when they were going to eat. Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome," he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you." Buffy and Harry laughed together, though the rest of the group seemed slightly worried.

"Bit off his rocker, isn't he," Ron said to the others.

In unison, Harry and Buffy replied, "Definitely, he's still brilliant though." The others were silent for a moment before Xander asked,

"Have you two met him before?"

_What do you think_, Buffy silently asked Harry, _can I tell them?_

Harry nodded. Buffy sighed before saying, "We spent a week here with Dumbledore and Hagrid two weeks ago, and last week we spent in Diagon Alley."

"Why?" asked Hermione, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"Well," began Buffy, "I kinda got us kicked out of our Aunt and Uncle's house. Dudley, our giant oaf of a cousin, was being stupid and I called him out on it, so our Uncle pulled the car over and made us get out. Then suddenly Dumbledore was there-"

"And he took us back here to stay for a bit before he took us to Diagon Alley," interrupted Harry. Buffy gave him a look, confused as to why he didn't let her say what had really happened next, before nodding to the rest of the group to affirm his part of the story.

The twins did a double-take when they saw the faces of their friends. They looked on Harry and Buffy with… Pity? "What awful people," cried out Hermione.

Buffy scowled, "We don't need pity, so don't feel it. There's no point to it!" Ignoring everyone else now out of anger, she began piling her plate with food that had appeared on the dishes while they were speaking. Harry shrugged at the other's confusion before following Buffy's example.

"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.

"Can't you —?"

"I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service: resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you — you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy —" the ghost began stiffly, but Hermione interrupted,

"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.

"Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So — new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable — he's the Slytherin ghost."

Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. Buffy shivered a little bit before suddenly realizing, "Nick, how come we didn't see any of the ghosts when we were here earlier?"

"Professor Dumbledore told us all to stay out of your way, he didn't want you to get distracted from your training." Buffy and Harry hoped no one picked up on that slip of the tongue by Nearly Headless Nick, but all of their Companions seemed to have noticed at once. It was rather obvious, but no one said anything, so they kept eating in silence.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding…

As Harry reached for a treacle tart and Buffy nibbled on a chocolate éclair, the conversation turned to families.

"My dad's a Wizard, but he's a muggle-born, and my mom's pure muggle. They make sure I know plenty about each world," said Xander

"What about you, Neville?" said Ron.

"Well, my gran brought me and my sister up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought me and Lacy were all-Muggle for ages, though Lacy really is a squib. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me — he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned —but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced — all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here — they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."

"Well my parents are both dentists-it's a type of muggle doctor-so I didn't know anything about this world until I got my letter. But I've made sure to learn all I can about this, I've read lots of books," said Hermione.

Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. Buffy caught him staring and looked up also, her response to whatever Xander had just said dying in her throat. As the twins watched him, the greasy-haired man looked up and met their gaze.

As soon as he did this, the twins both gasped. Harry immediately grasped his forehead, and buffy placed her palm over the spot on her collarbone. Pale-faced and rubbing their scars gingerly, they turn to each other with confusion and shock evident in their eyes.

Simultaneously, Ron and Xander spoke,

"What's up, Buff?"

"What is it, Harry?"

Harry blushed lightly as he and Buffy looked between the two who had spoken and told them, "It's nothing." No one in the vicinity seemed to believe them, but they didn't say anything with Buffy's agreeing nod.

When the food had finally disappeared and Dumbledore had finishes his speech about rules and a forbidden third-floor corridor, everyone in the hall began to rise sleepily from their seats and exit the hall. Percy Weasley, the Gryffindor Prefect, eagerly began herding the first-years about.

"I'll see you all later, then," Said Buffy as she backed slowly out of the tight group of Gryffindor students as they reached the third floor. Harry nodded in her direction, and before anyone could question anything, she was gone.

**Next chapter will have major original content! I so excited! Oh, btw, I don't own HP or B:tVS, JKR and other people who are richer than me do!**

**Please review!**


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